Gasproof litter cover



Oct. 12, 1943. w. D. FLEMING GAS-PROOF LITTER COVER Filed Dec. 12, 1941 G W M u 2:. m MM m L H W mxm ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 12, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT Q FFKCE 1 2,sa1,3i-* g GAsrn-oor LITTER oovnn William 1). Fleming, "Edgewood Arsenal, Md." Application" December 12, 1941, Serial No. 422,652

I 2 Claims. (01'. 582) (Granted under the act oi March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30, 1928; 3'70 G. 757) The invention described herein, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

Thisinvention relates to chemical protectiv equipment in general, and more specifically to the prevention of effective use of chemical warfare agents by the enemy against field and/or hospitalized casualties.

As a result of two decades of intense study and development, material progress has been made, through improvementsin gas masks and garments of impervious material, toward solving the problem of anti gas protection. y

However, andas is apparent, while gas masks in defeating the objective sought, namely, com- 1 and clothing which form equipment for protectplete, dependable and effectiveprotection of the ing the soldier against chemical warfare may be casualty against all chemical agents when and readily donned bythe soldier gossesisling comlggi where needed. i Vigor, the cumbersomenessl 0 v .5110 an 011 Accordingly, Ihave devised a simple andeffecand/or its several parts makes difiicult and sometive medium whereby not only may th pati t, times renders impossible; the p em n fitfilng but also the litter, stretcher, bed, or other form thereof to a casualty either in the field, orm a f bodyqest upon which-3 he is recumbent, be hospital or at treijltment m readilyand eifectively protected from the *dele It 15 E t a number of terious effects of chemical warfare agents; and ficu1 t sltuatlon n W the problem the invention, together with its objects and adtecting casualtles against exposure to chemical vantages-3 will be best understood and appreciated Warfare agents or s eltherwglle m P from a study of the following detailed descripess of rtmml from the Zone of t or during tion, made in connection with the accompanying evacuation of field and base hospitals, or where, drawing, Wherein I J beciug g i sg Z gfii i Figure 1 is a p rspective View of a. litter emg g g 6 area W 6 g S a I bodying the features of my invention, and illus- The nature of theequipment above referredto gg fig i of luslin-g e for protecting is indicative of the fact that complete protection a against war gases involves prevention against.infizi 'g i g g perspecilve-vlew of the W haling oI-"breathmg of these agents prevem Figure 3 is a fragmentary detail sec ion on the tion against contact of the gases with any part 1' 3 3 f F 1 v w v of the human body The need of Such t??? ane ma in ye iri detail to the drawing 5 in lained "notin t a or 311 11 553 3; gg g l been iuvided in 40 dicates generally a litter or field stretcher of groups, to which, for an appreciation of the t l Wt}; 331 55 313 lfi y df yafigig gy- 22p: advantages of this inventiont, reference lsnblbidczmi x l fi o 5:1 Hie 261 1; godge S Side: .poles :5 1y made only to lung irri an s so ca ed e- ,1 V r v cause it is necessary to breathe'these agents in 6, -re iv ly q p d. w th t mm l handles3 mm W markeddefiemi"stemuta' SJiilibiiiitti Z3553?iifific w'ii iitiic tors or irritant smokes an vomi ing. gases; vesicants which produce a blistering action on; sheet 8 is of conventlonai n y ,des sln, any part of. the human body with which they and is secured atv its illoliltudln edges odt 8 come in contact; and lacrimators WhlCh pro- P0185 6 n the e own manner an as duce a powerful irritant action on the eyes. strated.

Up to the present time, no eiiective and otherwise satisfactory means had been developed whereby, without resort to the usual protective, equipment, namely, gas masks and protective clothing, casualties, either While being carried from the zone of combat on litters or field stretchers, or while being transported to field or'base hospitals in ambulances, or while bed-ridden in such hospitals, could, with minimum discomfort to the casualty, be readily and adequately pI0- tected against all chemical agents.

In considering protection of the casualty from direct exposure to chemical warfare irritants, consideration had also to be given to effectively guarding the litter, stretcher, bedor other form of body-rest against contamination. Otherwise contact of thepatient with a contaminatedpart of such body-rest might result, especially where persistent vesicant agents are used by the enemy,

For use in combination with such 'litter' or stretcher, and to form a constituent part thereof, I provide a fabric, sheet 9. The function and purpose of this sheet 9 .is to adequately protect from vesicant spray, as wellas from rain and the What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A litter, a cover sheet, and complemental fastener elements at one edge of the cover sheet and at one side of the litter detachably securing said cover sheet to said one side of the litter, said cover sheet being of a material impervious to vesicant vapors and resistant to rain, and of a length and Width exceeding the length and width of the litter so that when wrapped about the occupied or unoccupied litter excess marginalportions of the sheet extend beyond the extremities of a the litter to provide for complete envelopment of the litter and occupant as a protection against contamination of the litter to spread and wrapped conditions, respectively.

WILLIAM D. FLEMING. 

